Welcome to Season 3 Episode 2 of the All Things Geekery Podcast – Superhero Madness

In this episode, the geeks are back to discuss all the upcoming superhero & villain films coming out this year and what our thoughts are on each.

Click To Listen – S3E2: Superhero Madness

Show Notes

• Captain Marvel
  • Release Date: March 8, 2019
  • What We Know So Far
    • Marvel’s first female-led superhero film will revolve around the most powerful character in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.  This iteration of Captain Marvel will focus on the character of Carol Danvers, whose adventures are earthbound but whose powers are based in the cosmic realm. Joss Whedon wanted to introduce the character at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron, but Marvel didn’t want to bring Captain Marvel into the MCU fully formed without first telling her origin story.
    • This film will be a prequel to the MCU, taking place in the 90s and bringing back Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson for the first time since The Avengers. Moreover, the comics characters the Skrulls are the villains with a story revolving around the Skrull vs. Kree war, which explains why Lee Pace and Djimon Hounsou are reprising their roles from Guardians of the Galaxy as Kree. That could have major repercussions leading into Avengers 4, but Captain Marvel will also give us a two-eyed Nick Fury. Jude Law is set to co-star as the alien Mar-Vell.
• Hellboy
  • Release Date: April 12, 2019
  • What We Know So Far:
    • Hellboy creator Mike Mignola came up with the story for this new reboot as opposed to moving forward with the third film in Guillermo del Toro‘s established franchise, and Stranger Things standout David Harbour fills the role of the titular character for director Neil Marshall, who helmed The Descent and a couple standout Game of Thrones episodes. The film has loosely based the Rise of the Blood Queen arc with Milla Jovovich filling that villainous role, while Ian McShane plays Trevor Bruttenholm and Daniel Dae Kim fills the part of Ben Daimio. Oh, and this is 100% Rated R.
• Shazam
  • Release Date: April 5, 2019
  • What We Know So Far:
    • Making his superhero movie debut, Dwayne Johnson opted to take on the role of the villainous Black Adam in this DC comics adaptation, but Warner Bros. subsequently decided to hold Johnson for a separate Black Adam movie so Shazam will be all about that hero. Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation director David F. Sandberg is directing, and this served as Warner Bros.’ next DCEU film in production after Aquaman.
    • Zachary Levi is the title superhero character, with Asher Angel playing his boy counterpart Billy Batson. The story revolves around a young boy who can transform into a powerful superhero simply by uttering the word “Shazam!”. Mark Strong is playing the film’s villain, Dr. Thaddeus Sivana.
• Avengers Endgame
  • Release Date: April 26, 2019
  • What We Know So Far:
    • The conclusion to the epic two-part Avengers storyline will close out Marvel’s ambitious MCU with a bang. The title, Avengers: Endgame, has finally been revealed, if not the story, confirmed cast, etc.
• Dark Phoenix
  • Release Date: June 7, 2019
  • What We Know So Far:
    • The sequel to X-Men: Apocalypse has been firmed up as Dark Phoenix, which will tackle the beloved Jean Grey story arc from the comics that was first broached (and botched) in X-Men: The Last Stand. X-Men writer/producer Simon Kinberg has penned the script and is making his directorial debut on the project, which also stars Jessica Chastain as maybe the villain Lilandra and is bringing back pretty much the entire main X-Men cast. The movie won’t be skimping on the weirdness, as it’s been confirmed that the story will find the X-Men finally venturing to space. Hans Zimmer is coming out of superhero movie retirement to compose the score.
• Spider-Man Far From Home
  • Release Date: July 5, 2019
  • What We Know So Far:
    • Not much. Bolstered by the positive response to Homecoming, director Jon Watts returned to direct, and screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, who came on to rewrite Homecoming, wrote the script.
    • Jake Gyllenhaal plays comics villain Mysterio, although Mysterio is a good guy in this movie. Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders also co-star, adding a S.H.I.E.L.D. presence to the whole shebang.
• The New Mutants
  • Release Date: August 2, 2019
  • What We Know So Far:
    • Writer/director Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars) has been attached to direct New Mutants for some time now, but 20th Century Fox finally moved this thing into production after the success of Deadpool and Logan. The film is both YA-esque and horror-tinged in tone, revolving around a group of much younger mutants in the X-Men universe than the adults from the proper X-Men movies. The story will also ditch traditional superhero costumes and supervillains in favor of telling a story about these young mutants locked up together in some facility, mirroring a horror haunted house vibe. James McAvoy has been rumored to be reprising his role as Professor X in the film.
    • However, just a few months before the film was set to hit theaters in April 2018, Fox pushed the movie back 10 months to 2019 to take over Gambit‘s previous spot. No official explanation was given, but rumors swirl that Fox tested the film and decided it “wasn’t scary enough,” so some additional photography may be in order.
• Joker
  • Release Date: October 4, 2019
  • What We Know So Far:
    • This is a weird one. In the wake of Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad, and with Wonder Woman proving to be a massive success, Warner Bros. began changing up its plans for the DCEU. One idea is to kickstart a new arm at WB that will develop and produce one-off DC Comics adaptations not connected to the DC Extended Universe, meaning filmmakers can come in, try something really radical, and not have to worry about setting up a franchise or fitting into an established timeline. The first of these to hit the trades was a Joker origin movie directed by The Hangover and War Dogs filmmaker Todd Phillips, who is co-writing the script with The Fighter scribe Scott Silver. The idea is to craft something in the vein of Taxi Driver, a gritty, hard-boiled crime picture set in the early 1980s.
    • The lead actor would not be Jared Leto, but someone else entirely—WB reportedly wanted Leonardo DiCaprio, and when he passed they moved on to Joaquin Phoenix, who signed on after prolonged negotiations. The movie began filming in September 2018 and wrapped in December.
• Birds Of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
  • Release Date: February 7, 2020
  • What We Know So Far:
    • This project hit the fast track at Margot Robbie‘s urging, as the Harley Quinn actress lobbied Warner Bros. an DC to put together a female-centric DC movie based on the Birds of Prey comics. The studio not only put this together but has Cathy Yan in line to direct based on the strength of her indie feature Dead Pigs. The idea is to potentially introduce a few DC comics characters in this film, like Batgirl, which would then pave the way to their own solo films a la Black Panther and Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War.
    • This project is a priority for Warner Bros. and could begin filming at the end of 2018. Jurnee Smollett-Bell plays Black Canary, Mary Elizabeth Winstead is Huntress, and Rosie Perez is The Question, while Ewan McGregor plays villain Black Mask.
• Gambit
  • Release Date: March 13, 2020
  • What We Know So Far:
    • Channing Tatum has been keen on playing the X-Men mutant for a while now, and 20th Century Fox finally pulled the trigger on a standalone movie for the fan-favorite Cajun. Production had initially been slated to begin Fall 2015, but when it was pushed back to early 2016, director Rupert Wyatt abruptly dropped out due to personal reasons. Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow) subsequently signed on to direct, and while producer Simon Kinberg told us the film will be a heist picture and a “sexy thriller”, the film was pulled from its October 2016 release date and sat in limbo for a bit.
    • Gambit was officially back on track with Pirates of the Caribbean and A Cure for Wellness director Gore Verbinski taking the helm and a Valentine’s Day 2019 release date, but Verbinski dropped out two months before filming was set to begin and Fox is once again on the hunt for a director. Joshua Zetumer (Patriot’s Day, RoboCop) penned the most recent draft of the script, but this entire film could be scrapped or reconceived once the Disney/Fox deal goes through.
• Wonder Woman 1984
  • Release Date: June 5, 2020
  • What We Know So Far:
    • Very little, but Wonder Woman marked a major turning point for the DCEU with wildly positive reviews and massive box office, so anticipation is high. Patty Jenkins returns to direct a story that takes place in the year 1984 against the backdrop of the Cold War (timely!), with Kristen Wiig playing the villain Cheetah and Chris Pine somehow reprising his role as Steve Trevor. The film was originally scheduled for release in November 2019, but Warner Bros. opted to push it into the summer corridor of 2020.
• Black Widow
  • Release Date: TBA
  • What We Know So Far:
    • A standalone Black Widow movie has long been requested by fans, and Marvel Studios is finally pulling the trigger—although all official details will be under wraps until Avengers 4 hits theaters so as not to spoil how that film wraps up. Scarlett Johansson handpicked indie filmmaker Cate Shortland to direct after an exhaustive search, and the most recent draft of the script was written by Jac Schaeffer. Early word is that this movie takes place before the events of The Avengers, but again all confirmed details are under lock and key at the moment.
• Suicide Squad 2
  • Release Date: TBA
  • What We Know So Far:
    • David Ayer definitely isn’t coming back to direct this sequel, and Warner Bros. looked at some intriguing names for his replacement. Mel Gibson was approached towards the end of 2016, but Warner Bros. eventually moved on and offered the movie to Jaume Collet-Serra of The Shallows and Non-Stop fame to take the helm, only to see him pass. Gavin O’Connor (The Accountant) was subsequently set to direct, but when his take came out similar to the plot of the Birds of Prey movie—which is going into production first—he became frustrated and moved on.
    • Subsequently, Warner Bros. tapped former Guardians of the Galaxy 3 filmmaker James Gunn to write a script from scratch and potentially direct. The idea is for Gunn to craft whatever kind of story he wants, which means we could be in for a complete reboot of this franchise.
• The Flash
  • Release Date: TBA
  • What We Know So Far:
    • Miller made his brief debut in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but he’s a fully fledged star of the Justice League. After tasking Phil Lord and Chris Miller with penning a treatment only to see them head off to direct the Han Solo Star Wars film (and then leave that), the studio subsequently tapped Seth Grahame-Smith to make his directorial debut on the superhero picture. Alas, after the disappointing reception to Batman v Superman, Warner Bros. opted to change course and parted ways with Grahame-Smith, seeking to find a more established filmmaker in his stead. They settled on Dope filmmaker Rick Famuyiwa, working from Grahame-Smith’s script that was a buddy film of sorts between Flash and Cyborg. But after months of developing the project and with casting underway (Dopestandout Kiersey Clemons landed the role of Iris West), Famuyiwa exited the project in late October.
    • This put the March 2018 release date in doubt, as it was dependent upon production getting underway in early 2017. Miller was then due to start filming Fantastic Beasts 2 in mid-2017, which would push production of The Flash to late 2017 or early 2018, meaning the March 2018 date was impossible. The film does now have a pair of directors though. Names like Robert Zemeckis were bandied about early on, but WB settled on Vacation and Game Night helmers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein to direct Flashpoint, who also co-wrote Spider-Man: Homecoming.
    • Warner Bros. announced at Comic-Con 2017 that this Flash movie will be an adaptation of the Flashpoint time travel comics storyline, which could give WB a way to reboot the DCEU somewhat. But it’s unclear if that’s still the plan.
    • The long road to getting The Flash movie off the ground hit yet another speed bump in October 2018, when it was revealed that production is being delayed from Spring 2019 to late 2019 due to the fact that the script wouldn’t be ready in time and Miller once again has to shoot Fantastic Beasts 3 starting in July 2019. As a result, The Flash movie isn’t expected to hit theaters anytime before 2021 now.

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